It's a puzzler - 16 day lag time?

[truvr]

I'm attempting to make a gallon of wine using, primarily, Ikea's Elderflower concentrate. I mixed the ingredients and let them sit for a day. Then I pitched 5 grams of EC-1118, rehydrated.

After several days there was no activity and no drop in gravity. So I pitched a different yeast that I had on hand. Stirred everyday to aerate. Same story. After several more days I decided, what the hell, and pitched my last packet of Montrachet. Still nothing. I was about ready to give up when suddenly on day 16-ish I've got bubbles and cloudy must.

My starting gravity was a little high - 1.111. Temperature has been a little low - mid to upper 60s. Would this explain it? I didn't notice any preservatives on the label of the concentrate mix. I don't understand why it would take so long and then suddenly take off.

:what:

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Check the label on the concentrate for preservatives
Regards, GF.

 

[truvr]

I misspoke. It was 18 days before any signs of activity. But it was down to 1.086 last night so it is finally chugging along.

I thought I had tossed all of the elderflower bottles but I found one in the glass bin. Ingredients are sugar, water, elderflower extract, lemon juice, and citric acid. That should all be fermentation friendly, no? Even if there were preservatives, is this how it would act?

Anyway, it should be interesting to see what my triple yeast blend comes up with.

 

[truvr]

Well, to follow up, it's almost 2 months now and it is down to 1.046. It smells kind of funky and tastes a little sour. Infection? :what: I'm thinking about adding some 3711 to see if it will chew those sugars down. I guess there's not really anything to lose at this point.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Rotten, IMO.

 

[truvr]

Rotten like an infection? I'm thinking in beer terms here. Or there was something up with the ingredients in the first place? I really don't understand why this doesn't want to ferment...

 

[bernardsmith]

How acidic is the must? It may be too acidic for the yeast and there may be insufficient nutrients in the must for the yeast to thrive... The concentrate may be preserved with sorbates in which case you are fighting nature in trying to ferment that baby...

 

[truvr]

How acidic is the must? It may be too acidic for the yeast and there may be insufficient nutrients in the must for the yeast to thrive... The concentrate may be preserved with sorbates in which case you are fighting nature in trying to ferment that baby...

Good point about it being too acidic. Unfortunately I don't have any way to measure pH. I added nutrients at the beginning and one more time when I added one of the other yeast packets. There shouldn't be any sorbates. The ingredients are sugar, water, elderflower extract, lemon juice, and citric acid. Of course, I added water to volume. Lemon juice and citric acid...back to your point about pH... Hmm, maybe that is what's going on.

Say it was too acidic. Any suggestions on how to increase the pH?

Thanks, I appreciate the reply.

 

[jensmith]

Water it down. Dilution will help. Especially as you had so high a starting sg. You may lose some flavor, but it sounds maybe rottonish already. Of corse the smell/tast could be stressed yeast or a treatable infection. Hard to tell.
Bring up the temp to 70, maybe even 75. Add warm but not hot water when diluting, then wrap in a towel or set in a warmer room.


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[truvr]

Water it down. Dilution will help. Especially as you had so high a starting sg. You may lose some flavor, but it sounds maybe rottonish already. Of corse the smell/tast could be stressed yeast or a treatable infection. Hard to tell.
Bring up the temp to 70, maybe even 75. Add warm but not hot water when diluting, then wrap in a towel or set in a warmer room.


Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew

Thanks for the suggestions. I did have it up in the 70s at one point and it didn't seem to help. Also, when I added the second round of nutrients I also added about 20% more water. Again, it didn't seem to make a difference, but maybe that wasn't enough to reduce the acidity.

Anyway, a few days ago I added some 3711 that I had on hand. Word on the street is that it will ferment an old gym shoe. Sure enough it is now very active and the gravity is dropping. Who knows if it will be drinkable though.

 

[truvr]

Another question. A couple of responses have mentioned the must being rotten. What does that mean exactly? I'm familiar with infections in beer. Would rotten must be a similar infection or does it mean spoilage of a different sort?

 

[jensmith]

Rotten must to me smells and tast like rotten fruit. Its just that. Rotten. it's not an infection per say. It will smell and tast like something lost in the back of your refridgerator...


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